"first family" news and stories

Before the White House got its megagarden, before there was debate over who the president's next chef would be, before WGBH thought Julia Child was ready for her close-up, there was René Verdon, the first professional chef in the White House kitchen. It was 1961, and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy knew that French food was the way to entertain in a big, and very sophisticated, way. So she reached out to Verdon, whose chicken in Champagne had been raved about as "incomparable" by The New York Times.

At the White House, Verdon broke tradition: becoming the president's first personal chef, starting an herb garden to keep things fresh and designing a personal kitchen for the family's quarters.

Verdon passed away on February 2, at age 86, in San Francisco, home of his noted restaurant Le Trianon, reports the Los Angeles Times. In the same way that Jackie will forever be remembered for her grace and flair, Verdon will be recalled as a master of the whisk. Julia Child credits him with her career. She was "lucky" he got the gig, Child told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune in 2002, says the Times, because "everyone was interested in French cuisine."